You Need to Understand Blockchain

Sorry, there is no refuge from reading about the B words – bitcoin and blockchain.

What is your knowledge of blockchain? If you’re like me, it probably feels like it’s minimal. You might wish the concept would go away so you never have to learn about it.

But unfortunately, that is wishful thinking. While you can decide to opt-out of owning or knowing much about cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin and Etherium and dozens of new ones that pop-up daily), the more enigmatic blockchain is likely to become a force in your unconventional career.

Simply put (ha ha ha!), the blockchain is decentralized digital ledger that is incorruptible and accessible to everyone. Here are a number of experts trying to explain the blockchain. A common misconception about cryptocurrency like bitcoin is that it is untraceable. It’s exactly the opposite. While it’s not easy to identify people on the blockchain, every transaction anyone has ever done is hidden (through a pseudonym code) in plain sight.

By creating this decentralized authentication of digital transfers, it is a threat a number of middlemen institutions like banks and Paypal. A fully embraced blockchain could turn much of the financial marketplace into a utility instead of a for-profit model controlled by a number of large players. It can simplify and eliminate the friction inherent in many transactions that occur during the operation of any business.

Why should you care? Well, if you are in the business of selling your services or goods, you may use a payment processor that currently charges a fee on top of what you charge your clients. The blockchain could enable a system that eliminates that middleman and that fee. While those with Tulip fever are obsessing about the ups and downs of cryptocurrency, the real smart money and ideas are powering the blockchain evolution. You would be wise to pay attention to that.